The development of Plymouth colony started in 1607 when a group of Separatists left England to escape persecution. They would later be known as the Pilgrims. They settled in Holland, but they were displeased. They did not like the fact that their children were growing up into different cultures, learning new customs and speaking different languages. They decided that they wanted to move to America. The Pilgrims held a grant of land in Virginia from the London Company in 1619. September 1620, the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower from Plymouth, England. Aboard were about 70 men and 30 women. In November the ship landed on the Massachusetts coast in Cape Cod. The Pilgrims had no charter for an area outside the control of the London Company, so they signed the Mayflower Compact. This stated that the Pilgrims agreed to live under the laws of the community. The Pilgrims searched for Plymouth harbor for about a month and then on December 25, they began to construct the first house for general use.
English: Massachusetts_Bay_Colony_1930_Issue-2c.jp...
English: Seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Weir a copy ...By spring almost half of the Pilgrims died of hunger and disease. An Indian, Squanto taught the Pilgrims about their new environment and how to adapt. If it were not for him the rest of them would have starved to death. William Bradford, one of the colonists, wrote about how Squanto taught them how to live on the land and he never left their side until he died. The Pilgrims profound sense of religious purpose and willpower to undergo hardships sustained the colony. The survivors elected Bradford as their governor in 1621. They planted crops in the spring. A good harvest in the autumn and the onset of more rations on the ship Fortune stimulated a day of thanksgiving to God. Settlers from England built a cluster of...